Let Go
by love comes and goes
Summary: AU. Bella hadn't asked Jacob to kiss her right before the Newborn attack. Somehow, this changes everything.
1. Prologue

**I was watching Eclipse and when _that_ scene popped up I kept yelling, "Just let him go you idiot!"... and a bunch of other expletives and then I was like, "Wait, what if she did?"**

**And so this story was born.**

* * *

"Because you're too important."

"Its still not good enough."

"Ja-" But his name died in her throat. So what if she called him to turn back? Then what? If she admitted that she did indeed love him, it would make no difference in the end because her love for Edward was so- so much... _more_ than what she realized she felt for Jacob. She could explain what she felt for Jacob in words. But what she felt for Edward left her breathless and unable to comprehend how someone could love someone else so much.

So even though it was killing her, Bella swallowed her words. Her heart hammering in her chest but she ignored it for two seconds, willing herself to remember how much the pack cared for one another and that the pack wouldn't let him do that. Plus, Jacob believed that life was too much of a precious thing to do something as stupid as get himself killed.

Rational thinking kicking in, it calmed her almost panicked filled adrenaline rush, and managed to breathe.

And then he was gone, into the forest, into a battle with Newborns.

Bella hoped she hadn't made a mistake.


	2. Chapter 1

**Changing to Jacob's first person point-of-view and will probably stick to that for the rest of the story.**

**

* * *

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She hadn't stopped me. The one act made me feel like my heart was breaking into millions of pieces that I would never be able to piece together because some parts of it—no matter what—would always remain with her.

And I couldn't even mope properly because I was about to go into a fight with newborn Vampires.

The world just wasn't fair.

I paused my running before I phased to try and at least tone down my hurt, and self-pity a bit. It wouldn't do to distract everybody else with my broadcasted thoughts, and get somebody hurt—or worse, killed. So I breathed, tried focusing on the danger, and how important it was to kill all those newborns.

I phased and was blown away by their synchronicity. I'd never seen the pack so single minded and concentrated on the one thing before.

_Jake!_

I ran faster, gathering that the newborn Vampires were about to arrive.

_We thought you were going to miss the party,_ Embry joked through the link. I grimaced at the thought. It only made me think of why I was late. Damn, now the whole pack knew.

_That sucks dude,_ Embry expressed.

_Focus_, Sam ordered as we heard the Vampires nearing. The Pack sympathy was pushed aside, and I was glad. I didn't want to dwell on the rejection anyway. I wanted to get mad, and destroy bunch of bloodsuckers—maybe even pretend one of them was Edward.

_That's not nice,_ Seth mumbled as he paced by the tent.

_Hey, whatever makes him feel better_, Leah quipped, surprising him. Her input made everyone quiet, and I could see Embry restrain himself from thinking something Sam related.

_Yes, yes, I was the dumped one, I know exactly how he feels, blah, blah, blah. Sheesh, you're all a bunch bitches, and need to stop pointing out the obvious. Fuck, it's like we're _not_ about to clash with a fucking Vampire army,_ Leah thought.

_It clearly hasn't stopped _you_ from being a bitch_, Jared muttered. Ouch, Jared didn't usually comment on her bitchiness. Leah paused before retorting. She could feel how nervous Jared actually was, so she let it slide because she felt the same way. They both didn't trust Vampire statistics, and so they were actually really worried that someone might not make it.

_Way to bring us down, dudes,_ Paul mumbled, feeling his excitement ebb away.

_Just focus on your training. Don't go for the obvious moves, and no matter what happens, don't let them get their arms around you,_ Sam repeated for the umpteenth time.

_They're here_, Quil stated, remembering Claire—what he had to protect. Soon, the Pack held similar thoughts, about our imprints and families, and once the images passed, we all tensed waiting for the Vampire Army to believe that they had it easy with a small coven before attacking and being led to where we were.

I attacked as soon as as they were in the clearing, remembering why we were in this battle in the first place—the whole reason this army was assembled—Bella. It was really hard thinking about her, but I used the pack mentality to continue attacking, making sure to not let my thoughts go out in full blast, and distract anybody with the pain in my heart.

It wasn't as hard as we were led to believe. The newborn Vampires were mostly scared by our appearance, shaking their beliefs that they were invincible, and that it would be an easy win. Already, the number dwindled to half as we did our part.

_Paul, behind you!_ I yelled, forcing Paul to dodge to the side, and abandon his target. I had already killed my Vampire and so I rushed to his aid, coming up behind the newborn Vampire as he missed Paul, and biting part of his neck off. Paul turned, and ripped the rest of the head off, and together, we bit the body to pieces.

I scanned, looking for anybody that needed any help, as I trotted along the clearing, making sure none of them ran off. The numbers continued to dwindle. Quil finished destroying his, Embry making his final move, and Sam helping Jared kill his, having already done his share as well. Leah, surprisingly, had gotten two, having used her speed to her advantage when one of Vampires that the Cullens were supposed to kill wandered into our side. I thought that it had something to do with her freaking out about the Vampire that showed up where Seth was. Jacob wasn't worried. Seth, as young as he was, knew how to take care of himself. Plus, he had the stupid mind-reader, and loathed as I was to admit, the guy wasn't completely incompetent.

_Shut up. Let me worry like a good older sister,_ Leah griped, growling at everything that moved.

Our part done—it was very anticlimactic, I thought—we began to gather the pieces, waiting for one of the Cullens to begin the fire.

I was disappointed. It had been far too easy, and far too quickly. I had expected the newborn Vampires to be far more dangerous, but they weren't, and all that hype that the Cullens made was for nothing. I felt stupid for thinking it, but I couldn't help but wish I _had_ gotten hurt just so that Bella would feel horrible for not stopping me before.

I mean, seriously? Bella was pretty gullible and the fact that she had caught my lie—or wait, what if she didn't? Shit, what if I had been wrong, and she _didn't_ love me after all, and I had just been fooling myself—

_Jacob!_

Wha—I twisted, trying to nip at the offending limbs that suddenly appeared, but it was too late. I clenched my eyes closed, waiting for the pain when I was suddenly jostled, and dropped by the newborn. My eyes opened wide in surprise, just in time to witness Leah be ensnared and hear the painful cracking of her bones.

_LEAH! _The Pack yelled in tandem. We all nearly collapsed, feeling the pain through the link as if we were the ones being crushed. Seth's howl was the loudest and most filled with anguish—next to Leah's.

"We're fine. We're going to be okay." Edward consoled us through the link. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even be annoyed, "Sam—help her—"

Help—Sam and Paul got the message faster than the rest of us and they pounced, and pulled at the arms to relieve Leah who fell howling in agony from the pain.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, _SHIT. Leah was squirming, using the mantra as a way to keep from crying out. Leah was moaning and groaning and no matter how much we called out to her, she couldn't get passed the pain.

_Somebody get Carlisle!_ Seth yelled through the link. Before he could start running in our direction, Edward started barking orders at him. But it was in such a desperate fashion that Seth whined, before believing his word, and headed toward my house, which was the nearest to our location.

Carlisle appeared at the moment, as if he had Edward's mind-reading powers, and heard Seth calling for him through our thoughts.

"Morphine. For the pain," Carlisle explained quickly. Taking out a rather large needle, very nearly filled to the brim. "I had a kit nearby in case of an emergency," he said, injecting her. That done, he began to feel for the breaks, causing Leah to howl in pain.

"I'm going to need you to get her to phase back. I can't treat her otherwise," Carlisle continued in a quick fashion. "She seems to be healing fine, but I still want to make sure," he said in a placating manner. We all gave a simultaneous sigh of relief, glad that the wounds weren't fatal.

"You lot need to get out of here. The Volturi are coming and they will not keep the treaty. I will go to the reservation as soon as they're gone," Carlisle said in a grave manner. Sam nodded solemnly.

_Pick her up, Seth's got the right idea. Jacob's house is the nearest, we'll head there. Billy has more experience being around the Bloodsuckers anyway,_ Sam said, picking Leah up by the collar of her fur, and setting her on top of Paul as carefully as possible. Again, we all winced at the move, feeling just how much it hurt through the mind-link. Paul continued to wince as Leah began to dig her claws into his flesh.

_Come on, Leah. Phase back,_ Jared pleaded.

_Shut. Up. This shit HURTS and I'm going to DEAL with it anyway I want—so all of you SHUT THE FUCK UP!_ Leah howled. The pain was pretty intense, and we couldn't help, but whine and howl right along with her—Paul especially, as he was taking her abuse.

_Charlie's here sis, you have to phase back_, Seth whined waiting at the edge of the backyard for us. Leah continued to howl in pain, choking back sobs, forcing herself to not cry.

_Fuck, fuck, fu- _"-ck. God mother fucking damn it that shit hurt!" Leah cried out, phasing back. The rest of the pack phased after her, I ran ahead inside to grab clothes for everybody, and came back just as quickly, ignoring my dad's and Charlie's confused expressions, to pass them out. Leah needed help to put her's on, and I felt like I had to help her. It was my fault she was so hurt in the first place. But it was tough business and we only managed to get it half on before she started crying out.

"Fuck stop. I don't give a shit if you guys see me naked. I just want the god damn morphine to fucking work!" Leah yelled. She continued to scream and cuss as Paul carried her through the threshold and set her on the counter.

"What happened?" Charlie questioned, standing from the couch. He was in police mode, and began to reach for his gun.

It was then that I realized how it looked. Leah was howling in pain, naked, at the verge of tears, and none of us had thought of a cover story in case someone got hurt.

"It's all fucking Jacob's fault!" Leah yelled out, alarming us. "If he hadn't kept that stupid bike, then I would have never ridden and crashed the thing!" she yelled, grasping at her side. "Fuck! I blame Bella for wanting those stupid bikes in the first place!"

I scowled. I was both annoyed and impressed by her ability to lie on the spot and somehow blame both Bella and I in the process even through the pain. At least Charlie pulled his hand away from his gun.

"I thought I told you to get rid those bikes," Charlie said, turning to me.

"I put a lot of work in those bikes. No way am I gonna get rid of them," I answered stubbornly. Charlie frowned, but didn't push it, deciding that Leah's well-being was more important at the moment.

"Let's get her to the hospital," Charlie ordered.

"I'd rather break my other fucking leg than go to the fucking hospital!" Leah yelled. I didn't doubt her.

"Carlisle is already on his way." Sam intervened.

"Dr. Cullen is making house calls?" Charlie asked, confused. I knew he was perfectly aware of the prejudice the reserve had about the Cullens, and though he didn't understand it and condone it, I'm pretty sure he wasn't prepared for the sudden turn of events.

"He better fucking come with some god damn morphine or I'm gonna have to kill somebody!" Leah yelled, continuing her expletives. It made me frown. She had already been injected, but it apparently hadn't made much difference. I still remembered the throbbing pain she had felt as we had made our way to my house.

Paul, who was closest to the door—and farthest away from Leah, as she was using her working arm to thrash about—suddenly opened the door, allowing Carlisle and Edward to file in.

"Finally! Fucking Morphine didn't work for shit!" Leah yelled. I winced at the cry, her voice beginning to go hoarse from yelling for the passed fifteen minutes. I couldn't imagine remaining in so much pain like she was right now. Carlisle didn't even blink as he began to work on her, pushing up on all the bruises that were swelling.

"The motorcycle must have landed on her left side." Edward murmured to Carlisle. At least they were quick on the uptake.

"Jacob," Edward called, motioning me to come forward. I did so reluctantly—the rejection was still clear in my head. "You might want the pack to go out," Edward murmured.

"Why?"

"Some of the bones aren't setting right," Carlisle explained. "I'll have to re-break them and set them so that they'll heal right."

"Fuck," Leah cursed, quieting. "Somebody tell mom I'm gonna be late for dinner," she joked, sighing.

I winced in sympathy. There was a groan and then good chunk of the counter was broken off from the grip she had on it with her good hand. The chunk then proceeded to break into pieces when Carlisle straightened her broken arm.

"So..rry Billy." Leah gasped.

"It's fine, sweety," Billy answered with a small voice. Leah was family, and it hurt us all to see her in such pain. I was feeling guiltier at every cry, it having been my fault for not paying attention.

"We'll be fine here." Sam said, answering for us. Seth was at her side the next instant, holding her hand.

"Do..n't bitch wh..en I bre_eeaak_... fuck... your hand!" Leah muttered as Carlisle poked and stretched the worst of her breaks, seeing what exactly had been set wrong.

"You'll have anesthesia." Edward was in and out the next moment with a tank a mask, ready to put her to sleep.

"Thank. Fucking. _God,_" Leah gasped out.

"Your elbow is healing wrong. I have to break it now. Edward," Carlisle ordered. Edward put the mask on Leah's face letting her inhale a good amount. The affect wasn't instantaneous, so when Carlisle rebroke her elbow, Leah screamed.

"Fuck! I thought it hurt the first time!" Leah cried, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Edward."

Edward turned the knob, letting her inhale even more, and after fifteen agonizing seconds—I was counting—her cries finally fell silent. Carlisle set to work, the entire pack watching and slowly drifting out when it was too hard to watch. Billy had stayed, but Charlie had gone out as well, probably imagining Bella in the same situation—before I could feel the hurt from thinking about Bella, Sam exited, socking the threshold on his way out.

I merely gave him a glimpse before going beside Seth who still held Leah's least injured hand. Her thrashing about probably broke something in that hand too.

Seth and I stayed the whole time. I felt horrible and guiltier with every re-break. I wish I hadn't lost my focus at the end of the battle.

I'd apologize as soon as Leah was awake.


	3. Chapter 2

**I would have updated much sooner if I had gotten this amount of reviews for the prologue. Reviews don't matter all that much to me, but when I see a lot of them—and positive at that—then I feel like updating much sooner than I normally would have. Though this one doesn't follow that logic, the next one just might. **

**Thank you for your awesome reviews. And if you see anything you don't like, don't hesitate to critique. I hope you continue to read and review!**

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I woke with a start. My heart was pounding in my ears and my hand twitched to punch something. My dream was simply a shorter version of what had happened yesterday. Leah's pain was the clearest and, thinking about it made the pain of Bella's rejection less painful in comparison.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

But there was no going back to sleep now, so I slowly rose from the couch, rubbing my eyes. I stood and went to relieve myself. However, as I headed back for the couch, my feet stopped in front of my open bedroom door, my eyes falling on Leah's form.

I felt guilt take a hold of me once more. It was hard seeing her so fragile—because of me no less. Even when Sam had broken her heart, I had never seen her shed a tear, never let anybody see or know what she actually went through, except Seth. For a while, I thought that maybe because it had been a high school romance, that was why she wasn't so broken up about it. It wasn't until Seth phased, startling us with images and private moments between him and Leah that he thought of at Sam's presence in his head did we know what the breakup had done to her.

Somehow, even with those images in mind, I never once thought that Leah was weak.

Except now of course—though, not completely. They were contradictory emotions. She did somehow manage to think on her feet even through all that pain. If it wasn't for Leah's quick thinking, I don't know what we would have told Charlie, and there'd probably be another incident at hand.

Why couldn't I be as strong as her?

Without realizing it, I had somehow gone in, taking the empty seat on the bedside. Seth had been with her until Sue had arrived. It wasn't until Carlisle had returned to check on her and told them that she would be fine and asleep for most of her discomfort, that my dad had been able to get them to go home. Nobody wanted to actually move Leah much, the first time we brought her over here was still clear in most of our heads so we decided to just move her to my room so that she'd be more comfortable.

Even though it was nearly pitch black, the only light was coming from a small digital clock on my bedside, I was still able to make out Leah fine as day.

So I nearly fell out of my chair when she suddenly opened her eyes.

"Leah!" I whispered in surprise. Leah stared at me for a moment before she blinked and looked away.

"...I knew this was going to happen," she finally muttered. I furrowed my eyes in confusion.

"What?"

"You think this is your fault, don't you?" Leah didn't give me the opportunity to answer as she scoffed. "Of course you do. You're the good guy." She scoffed once more and angled her body away from mine. She couldn't fully turn on account of her injuries, but I still caught the dismissal. I tried not to get annoyed. She had the right to be mad at me after all.

"I'm so-"

"No!" Leah yelled, using her least injured arm to smack my mouth closed. At least I think that was her intention. Leah ended up smacking me across the face instead. "I don't want to hear any of this—this apologetic shit. I knew exactly what might or might not have happened when I saved your ass, so don't go feeling all bad and shit," Leah hissed. I wanted to argue with her, but even in the dark, her glare managed to shut me up into submission. Maybe it even had a greater affect in the dark because I felt my body shrink into itself. And I called myself a man.

"But I still—"

"I don't care if you still feel guilty. If it's anybody's fault, it's Paul's for not being able to bring down his fucking vampire. The only reason I was the one that saved your ass was because I was the only one who hadn't let their guard down—and Jared, but I was closer." Leah sighed, then winced, and I instantly felt bad again. "Don't let this eat you up Jake," she said softly. I blinked at her.

There was no hostility or anger when she said that, and I had forgotten what she sounded like when Leah was nice. It made me feel really... good. Not many people were on the receiving end of Leah's niceness, and I felt privileged.

"It still hurts though," I whispered. Leah was family and that was it. Seeing one of our own hurt caused _us_ emotional pain, and the feeling of helplessness was constricting, and I itched to do something to make her feel better.

"You think you got it bad," Leah said teasingly.

"Sorry."

"Seriously, Jake, stop apologizing. It's annoying." I was going to ignore the fact that it was the first time I had actually apologized.

"I can't help it," I muttered instead. I still felt bad.

"What will it take to shut your trap?" Leah asked. Again, it wasn't as harsh as she normally said things so I didn't take offense, and actually thought about her question.

"...What will make _you_ feel better?" Because I knew that Leah wasn't comfortable at all. I tried to look at her as Leah, the bitch of our pack, but all I saw on my bed was Leah, family that had gotten hurt because of me. Maybe if I made her feel better she would look less fragile.

"Food," she answered quickly. I didn't bother trying to hide my grin.

"What kind?"

"A lot." Leah even licked her lips. I chuckled as I rose from the chair.

"Where do you think you're going?" Leah questioned, making me freeze.

"To get you food...?"

"Not without me your not," she said extending her hands upward toward me in an expectant manner.

"What?" God this girl was confusing.

"I'm so freaking hungry I'd be willing to eat a fucking deer, _but _seeing as I can't phase, much less _walk_, it's your job to carry me... everywhere. Now, chop chop." She even clapped her hands, which, even with the brace, was incredibly annoying

Now _this_ was Leah.

I tried to look put out even though I felt relieved and thankful. Careful of her injuries, I slid my right hand under her knees, and slowly lifted her up and watched her face for any signs of discomfort. She merely rose an eyebrow.

"I've been asleep, and hacked up on drugs all day. I think that's plenty of time for some semblance of recovery, Jacob. I'm mostly sore now, so don't worry about _breaking_ me," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Are you sure?" I asked, the echo of her pain was still clear in my mind.

"_Yes_," Leah emphasized in an exasperated manner. "Now, hurry up, I'm starving," she snapped.

I managed to get her out of my house without much fuss, despite the fact that we were both growing werewolves, and were each more than six feet tall. The next thing I know, we're driving down to Seattle—the only place that had twenty-four hour restaurants—the silence we're sporting is pretty comfortable. Every once in a while, I found my gaze falling onto her, just to see how she's doing. If she was hurting or falling asleep.

The third or fourth time I looked she caught my gaze, but instead of glaring at me or giving me the finger—something she's done before—she gave me a small smile.

Holy shit, I think my heart skipped a beat. It was... nice. Really, really nice.

I refrained from checking on her again.


	4. Chapter 3

"You again," Leah sighed as I walked into her room. I grinned at her, aware of the many visits people were paying her.

"Sorry, I would have come here sooner, but that waiting list is long," I teased, taking the chair by her bedside.

"People I haven't talked to since _high school_ are coming to see me!" Leah groaned. "You and the pack are smothering me. Isn't there some rule about not putting stress on the patient?"

"You love the attention," I argued. Leah scoffed and crossed her arms, eying me.

"I know you're not just here for my sunny disposition," she said sarcastically. "You hiding?"

"Bella's intimidated by you," I admitted. There was no point in denying it.

"I have that affect on people," Leah deadpanned. She looked really annoyed, but after a second, she let out a sigh, and gave me this weird look that I couldn't interpret. It made me nervous, made me fidget, but I couldn't look away either. "Tell me why."

"I know why she wants to talk to me," I answered with a shrug. When Leah wasn't being an angry shrew, she had this way about her. I almost never noticed it since she was always angry when she phased and we never really hung out outside of patrols. So I never noticed it before, but I was learning with my constant time in her company—and the others' memories—that injured or not, it was hard to resist her. "I want to get ready before she breaks up with me."

"You were never together," Leah said none too kindly. I bristled indignantly but she continued before I had a chance to retort. "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all," she said softly. I blinked and stared at her unable to really say anything to that. "But I think in your case, it wasn't love."

"What?" Was I having a one-sided discussion about Bella? I felt like I should be getting mad and storming out, but instead I was curious. It was the first time that someone had told me that.

"She has always been that girl you could never have. Being something that you couldn't have made you want her all the more. Since the beginning. Even if you had managed to get her to be with you, you would have always been her second choice and you would have to live knowing that. Would you have really been able to stay in a relationship like that?"

I was silent, imagining that Edward hadn't come back, that I had managed to win her over. She would have gotten better, but she would always remember Edward as the love of her life, the one she would have been with if she had the chance. Would I be worried about Edward coming back eventually? At that point, would she had stayed with me regardless or because she felt she had to? I could see a whole bunch of scenarios and none them ended with Bella truly happy with me.

"...No," I whispered, clenching my eyes shut. Wow that hurt. It really did feel like my heart was breaking.

"Love makes you blind, but not stupid. Everyone has their breaking point. I think, eventually, it would have all fallen apart anyway," Leah stated. She patted my hand which was shaking. Her touch stung and before I took out my anger and hurt on her, I got up and left.

* * *

I don't know why I was here again.

I was like clockwork. After patrol, I went to the Clearwaters. I would sit down on the chair by her bedside and I would ask about a scenario. Leah indulged me, crafting the story so that in the end, either Bella left me or I left her, knowing she wasn't happy.

Everyday I felt worse and worse, and Leah never once pulled back her punches. I asked for it and she never said no.

I wish she would say no.

* * *

Three days later, I asked about her and Sam. She was silent, floored it seemed, from my line of questioning, but then she let out a chuckle that made me confused.

"Want to know why I'm so good at making those stories about you and Bella?"

"You mean where you break my heart and become a misogynist?" I answered wryly.

"Because I've _beat down _my heart and turned to a life of misanthropy," she retorted cynically. It was something I figured out, the way she would look away sometimes, like some old wound was suddenly hurting. "Except in every scenario, its not because Emily left me—at least, not at first." Leah began to talk fast like she was embarrassed about talking, but couldn't stop now that she started. "I mean, for a long while, all I could focus on was that the love of my life left me for cousin who was practically my sister. But that hurt too much, so I tried to make it so that even if we had stayed together it wouldn't have worked out anyway. Point out all the faults in our relationship and manipulate them into something that was doomed to fail in the first place. Makes it easier to get over."

Leah looked at me and instead of sadness, I saw understanding. So instead of storming off to stew in anger and hurt in the forest like I usually did after my visits with Leah—I stayed. And blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"What was high school like for you?"

Leah blinked at me, the tension in the room completely dissolving as the question sunk in. Then she threw her head back and laughed. Loudly.

"I hate to disappoint you kid, but I liked high school. Never had a problem with grades and had a group of people I tolerated," she said grinning broadly.

"Huh. Who would have thought," I muttered, surprised. I was slightly distracted by how pretty Leah was when she laughed and smiled. Most girls didn't look so ethereal when they laughed so hard.

In answer, Leah just laughed again.

* * *

**Next chapter: Bella makes an appearance.**


	5. Chapter 4

Leah was officially healed. Or would be—tomorrow as per Doctor Bloodsucker's orders and through a couple compromises. So while she was technically still hurt, it meant she wouldn't be bedridden. With the date so close, Leah was getting anxious. I was watching her, trying to keep from smiling by Leah's obvious impatience.

"How would you like it if you had to be in bed for a whole fucking week?" Leah muttered darkly.

"I'm sure I would have figured something out," I answered with a shrug. Once you hung out with Leah long enough, you kind of figured out that Leah was just abrasive by nature. All you had to do was tell the difference between when she was annoyed and seriously pissed. Leah was always annoyed at something so that was her default setting and most of her threats were empty. It was pretty sad to think of since before the rest of the pack was kind of afraid of her. Not that we would ever admit it.

"So, Jailer. What will you force this prisoner to endure on her last day?" Leah asked, setting her chin on her palm, elbow on her knee. It couldn't have been comfortable with her injuries, but she did things like that to prove she wasn't weak. Which was stupid, but trying to knock some sense into Leah was much harder than it was with Bella, so I didn't say anything, just gave her a pointed look, and got up to grab a board game that would piss her off the least.

"Where the hell are you getting all these boardgames from?" Leah asked exasperated. I grinned and moved the covers away so that the board would be level on her bed.

"At least get the other idiots and make this a challenge," she said resigned.

"Huh. Good idea." We've been a little lax on patrolling so since we killed all the newborns so I'm pretty sure the whole pack could manage to move her easily enough into the living room for a good game of Monopoly. "I'll be back."

"I'll be here," Leah replied sarcastically. I laughed on my way out, but nearly had a heart attack when I caught Bella's scent a second before she ran into me.

"Jacob!" she yelled, startled. I grimaced.

"Hey."

Damn it. She found me.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" she asked, clearly furious.

"I haven't been avoiding you," I answered sullenly. At least, not completely...

"You never answer your phone! I've left you like a hundred messages."

"I've been here," I mumbled. That it least wasn't a lie. Sue has been pretty great by not kicking me out.

"If you don't get those assholes here in the next five minutes, I'm leaving!" Leah demanded from her room. I rolled my eyes on reflex.

"Anything else your highness?" I retorted, leaning back into her room too give her an exasperated face.

"Bring snacks while you're at it," she answered with a shooing motion of her hand.

"Sorry Bells, but I have to go or this princess will throw a bitch fit and I'm on babysitting duty right now." Did I sound normal? I'm not quite sure how I was pulling it off. Then again, I've been imagining much worse thanks in part to Leah's stories of heartbreak. It somehow made the reality of the situation that much easier to swallow.

...Or not, because I was starting get that ache in my heart just from the face of disappointment she was making. Feeling like a coward, I maneuvered around her and ran down the stairs. I ran into the forest and phased, but paused when I heard Leah's voice waft from upstairs. Her window was always open considering how hot it got in the tiny room. Curiosity got the better of me and I turned my ears to hear them properly.

"If it isn't the troublemaker. Now why is the damsel in distress herself visiting this lowly canon fodder?"

"... Hi Leah," Bella greeted after a few breaths. "I just came to see how you're doing. I... I-I brought flowers."

Crap. Wrong move Bella.

_Oh man, please tell me the leech helped her, _Seth groaned in my head. Sam similarly felt bad, if not worse for Bella.

_Uh, whats up? They're just flowers? _Jared questioned, confused.

"... Did you know that flowers hold hidden meanings behind them?" Leah said after a moment.

"N-no-"

"See these white ones? They're called Baby's Breath, they can mean 'innocence' or 'pure of heart'. These roses, since they're crimson mean 'mourning'. These pale purple ones? Mean 'elope with me'—no, in case you were wondering. Aha, these hemlock? They mean 'you'll be the death of me'. Appropriate don't you think?"

_I made the mistake of giving her flowers when I asked her out. She chewed me out before telling me to try again,_ Sam said fondly.

"Now, either you're trying to tell me something or you're trying to kiss my ass by buying me flowers and both of those possibilities are pissing me off. I hope you have something good to say or I'm about to get real mean," Leah stated. I involuntarily shivered from the tone.

_...My sister really likes flowers,_ Seth stated lamely. I was half dreading and half fearing for Bella. A strange, tiny part of me was also enjoying this. That was probably the part of me that was bitter over being dumped.

"I came to apologize," Bella said in a shaky tone. "You got hurt because of m—you got hurt protecting Jacob and I want to thank you for being selfless."

"Please don't make me regret participating in the god damn fight," Leah muttered with a groan.

"W-what?"

"Let me give it to you straight. The only reason we went into this fight is because of Jacob and his little crush on you. He would be foolish enough to team up with you vamps to take on a losing fight. We're pack—family. We take care of our own even if they are brain dead twerps. Added bonus was the fact that I could kill some god damn bloodsuckers into pieces. Not for one second do you even think that it was for you. Now, whatever the hell this was has left a bad taste in my mouth. I'd rather we never talk again all things considering. Oh and these flowers? They defeat the purpose when they've got leech scent all over them. If you'll excuse me, I have to go burn these mother fuckers and find me some some sage and hope your disgusting smell gets out of my room within the next few days."

_Come to Leah's house in five minutes. We're gonna play a game of monopoly,_ I informed everybody before phasing out and running into the house. Instead of running to Bella like I thought I would, I picked up Leah before she could get any further.

"You're supposed to be on bed rest," I informed her.

"Put me down Jacob," Leah ordered through grit teeth. She was vibrating, so I held on tighter in the valiant effort to get her to keep from phasing. Sad to say I could tell that she had held back from completely lashing out on Bella and I appreciated it. Leah already had a natural dislike for Bella, but the anger was on my behalf.

"Thank you," I murmured setting her down on the couch so I could hug her. I said nothing else on the matter as not to give her a reason to argue with me. I think I surprised her enough to forget her anger. She quit shaking and cautiously returned my hug.

"Whatever," Leah mumbled, weakly pushing me away. I grinned and bumped her forehead with my own.

"Get ready to lose."

"Last I checked, I kicked your ass four times in a row," she said with a smile. It was that smile that managed to get my heart to skip a beat every time. I almost didn't notice Bella at the stairs.

"S-sorry for bothering you."

"I'll walk you out Bells," I stated, getting up from my kneeling position. It was awkwardly silent until we got to her truck. That's when the water works began.

"I'm so sorry Jacob. I didn't mean to make it seem like I didn't care if you died, its just—"

"Hey, hey! Calm down. I was lying. I wouldn't—" I stopped and took a breath. "It doesn't matter now anyway, does it? You made your choice." I couldn't help the bitterness.

"He's my soul mate Jake," she managed with a watery smile. God, if that didn't hurt. "But I still need you Jacob. You're my, you're my sun; my best friend and I can't—"

"Bella, just stop. Please." None of this was making me feel any better. I sighed and tried to swallow the hurt that was bubbling over the surface. "I can't... be your friend right now. I need space. Can you give me that?"

The tears boiling over, she nodded. Feeling like nothing more needed to be said, I went back into the house.


End file.
